


Disguises Slipping

by minkhollow



Category: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-20
Updated: 2009-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-02 05:39:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minkhollow/pseuds/minkhollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy's late-night work on the stun/death ray gets an unexpected interruption.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disguises Slipping

**Author's Note:**

> An idea I had while working on Saving Expertise, and gave sometime to percolate. Veers AU somewhere in the midst of "So They Say."  
> Thanks to Gehayi for the beta-read.  
> I'm still not Joss Whedon; I'm still borrowing out of love (and to indulge my hopeless romanticism while doing my utmost to avoid cop-outs).

Monday night - late enough that it could technically be Tuesday morning, by now - finds Billy trying to put some of this theories about the stun/death ray conversion into practice. It's not going as quickly as he'd like; never mind his newfound resolve, he's still got some qualms about actually hurting someone. If that someone weren't Captain Hammer, he's not sure he could even _try_ to follow through; all things considered, that idiot corporate tool has it coming.

Now if only it hadn't all looked so much simpler on the whiteboard than it's turning out to be when he tries to do it.

There's a knock on the door - a little surprising, at this time of night, but it mostly serves to shake Billy out of staring at the stun ray like he can will it into doing what he wants it to. "Can you get it yourself, Moist?" he calls, on the grounds that no one else is likely to be coming over at this hour. "My hands are a little full."

There's a pause that goes on just a little too long. When the sinking feeling starts, he sets the stun ray down - which turns out to be a very good thing, when he finally does get an answer.

"...Who's Moist?"

"--Oh, Jesus. Just a sec, Penny, I'll - yeah." He sheds the lab coat and gloves in what's got to be record time, throws on a sweatshirt over his t-shirt, and opens the door. Penny looks like she's barely holding herself together, which makes him feel like an idiot for assuming it was Moist before saying anything.

"Are... you okay?" he finally says. It may be a stupid question, when the last thing she looks is okay, but it's something.

"I need to talk," she says, after a moment. "To someone who's - not likely to tell me I just made the biggest mistake of my life. I'm sorry, I know it's late, but I... yeah."

"It's not a problem. Come in, have a seat, you want something to drink?"

"Some water would be good, I think."

Billy nods, and heads for the kitchenette, getting himself a glass of water while he's at it. "What happened?"

"We were at the shelter all day. We may have the new building now, but it's not move-in ready - it needs a good cleaning, and we've got to get all the furniture in there. It's tiring work, and when we got done, all I wanted to do was get dinner and watch a movie or something."

"Captain Cheesy not appreciate that plan?"

Penny sighs, and takes the glass of water Billy offers her. "He didn't mind the dinner part, but he... didn't like the idea of just watching a movie, no. I told him I wasn't interested, and he said, 'I did all this homeless crap for you, shouldn't you be falling all over me?' And I... left."

Billy sits down next to her. "Good for you."

"I just - he's really caught up in himself, but I thought there was some good under all of that. I didn't want to believe it was all for his own advancement, but..." She shrugs. "If he was more interested in possibly getting into my pants than helping just to help people, I guess I was wrong."

"He's an ass. I could have told you that weeks ago. I'm sorry, I'm... kind of failing at being comforting, but."

"No, that's all right. You did try to tell me - like pie, and all that."

Billy smiles a little. "Yeah. So... what're you going to do now?"

Penny shrugs again. "I don't know. Probably throw myself into getting the new building ready and try to keep my mind off it, for a while. I'm sure by morning, he'll have convinced himself there's no _way_ a girl actually walked out on him."

"If he bugs you, I'll... probably get my ass handed to me, but I could try to help scare him off."

Penny actually smiles at that; it's watery, but it's there. "We'll see what he does. But... thanks. I appreciate the offer, even if I don't end up needing it."

They talk about other stuff for a while - mostly what's been going on with the shelter, since it's the most newsworthy of their common threads and Billy really _is_ interested in it, by now. He still thinks it's only addressing a symptom, but he's got to admit it's more than most people are bothering to do.

Somewhere in there, Penny ends up leaning on his shoulder. He can't believe his luck, but he won't protest, if that's what she wants. He doesn't realise he's leaning toward her until she pulls away a little.

"Oh. Um. Sorry."

"No, it's - in general, it's okay. It's just that the strap on your goggles was..." She trails off and leans back a little more, looking at him; Billy tries to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He could have sworn he'd taken them off at the same time as the lab coat.

But instead of reacting like he's just made her night that much worse, Penny smiles a little. "You know, I was beginning to think that was you."

"What - what gave it away?"

"The first time we bumped into each other outside of the laundromat, it crossed my mind, but I wasn't sure enough to say. It's... the way you talk about stuff, when you're passionate about it - and the whole 'we're meeting now for the first time' thing. Most people would call a pair of goggles on top of your head a bad disguise, but that's not the disguise. Dr. Horrible's a lot more confident than you are. It threw me off."

Billy snorts. "Dr. Horrible's _goggles_ are more confident than I am. These things know they're hot shit." He pulls the offending items off his head, finally, and Penny laughs.

"That they are. I found your blog a few months ago, actually. It's pretty entertaining - wait a second. This makes me the mysterious 'her,' doesn't it?"

Billy couldn't avoid blushing if he tried. He also doesn't trust his voice, after being called on that one so bluntly, so he just nods.

Penny considers that for a few moments, looking a little bit stunned. "Oh. Well... I don't particularly want to rule the world, and I don't know if the Evil League of Evil is your best bet for advancement - I mean, it's a confederation of bad guys. They must be stabbing each other in the back all the time."

"From what I've heard, that actually happens less often than you'd think. And... well, I don't know how easily I can back out, now. I could definitely become a target, for making it this far along and suddenly not playing their game."

"It might be worth considering. Among other things, I don't think Bad Horse actually gives a damn about fixing the world's problems so much as gleefully knocking everything down."

Billy sighs. "I know. But they've got one of the best labs in the country, and anyway, the alternative's - well, you _dated_ the alternative." The thing that bugged him about that - well, other than his arch-nemesis taking the girl of his dreams on dates - was how hard Penny seemed to be working to convince herself it was a good thing. He could handle her being happy with someone else, he thinks, but 'he's... nice' is not the sentiment of someone who's pleased with her relationship.

In any case, she's pulled herself out of that now. He's happy for her, as much as he's hoping it means he's got a chance after all.

Silence settles in; it's only a little bit awkward. Eventually, Penny says, "I knocked him out, before I left."

Billy just stares at her for a moment. "You what?"

"I'm sure he's awake _now_, but... I don't know how. I just know I did. He tried to block my exit. I think that's part of why I came here - somewhere in the back of my head, I'd already connected you and your blog, and I thought you might be able to help me figure out what happened."

"Well, um. I... don't know what I'll be able to tell you - it's nothing I've ever had to test for before - but I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." Penny shrugs. "I mean, for all I know, I just got in a lucky blow to the crotch or something, but--" She stops; Billy's sure she's watching the series of very traumatised expressions crossing his face. "What is it?"

"I just... _bad_ mental image. You know the thing with Achilles, how his mother dunked him in the river of mystical invulnerability while holding his foot? Like that, only _scarier_."

Penny's silent for a few moments, and then looks rather alarmed herself. "...Oh dear. I - can't say I'd thought of it in that light."

"Now that I have, I'm trying to un-think it." It would be pretty hilarious, if it were anyone but Mr. The Hammer Is My Penis, but even then, it's a mental image Billy could have lived forever without having.

"Well, I'm sorry I put it in your head. I totally didn't mean anything that... well."

"It's all right. I'll recover. Anyway - I can't promise that I'll find anything, or even that there's something _to_ find, but... we'll try to figure out what's going on. You do definitely need answers, considering."

"Yeah. I do. Thanks."

"No problem."

Silence settles in again, this time with both of them just sort of looking at each other. Billy can't decide whether this silence is notably awkward or not.

After a few minutes, Penny sighs, says something he doesn't quite catch (it sounds like 'I should have just done this Saturday'), then leans over and kisses him.

Billy's too stunned to react, for a split second; this definitely isn't something he was expecting to happen tonight. Or ever, in a way, but that's a different story. He recovers enough to kiss back, but then common sense gets the better of him, and he pulls back.

"Okay, wait," he says, "it's so late that it's probably early, by now, and you dumped Captain Hammer... what, two hours ago?"

Penny nods. "Probably closer to three, by now."

"That's... way too soon to jump into anything else. I'm still very much interested, don't get me wrong, but - I've been the rebound before. It wasn't fun for either of us, we had a nasty break-up three weeks later, and we haven't spoken since. I don't want to put either of us through that." Much as he wants to, and much as the temptation to rub it in Captain Hammer's face is _very_ strong, it wouldn't be fair to either of them, or to how much he likes her.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. And, well, you know how long it took me to talk to _you_. I'm pretty sure I'll still be around when you're past the rebound stage. Um, if you're still interested then."

Penny smiles. "We'll see what happens. But I have to say, stopping yourself now probably just improved your chances by a long shot."

Billy grins. "All right then. Um. Since it's so late, if you just want to stay here instead of trying to go home, the couch folds out. It's up to you, of course, but... might be safer, at this time of night."

"Yeah, that might--" Penny yawns mid-sentence, then continues. "That... might be a better idea than I was going to say. I guess the day's finally catching up with me."

"I can see that. Hang on a sec, I've probably got something you could use for pajamas, and I'll unfold the couch while you're changing."

Penny nods, and Billy goes to dig through his clothes for sweatpants and a shirt that are clean and likely to fit her. He's about halfway through that when Penny calls, "What were you doing when I got here, anyway?"

"...Working," he finally manages. "On a... thing. That hasn't been going well and I don't know if I want to finish, but I may be stuck with no choice." It's a little funny, how some of the drive to go forward on it's died now that it's not so damn personal.

"Ah. A League-related thing, I take it?" He hands her the clothes he found, without meeting her eyes; that seems to answer her question well enough anyway. "This is just wild speculation, so by all means, correct me if I'm wrong, but... I don't think you should kill him."

"And what makes you think that's the plan?" He's careful not to confirm or deny by tone of voice, as much as he can.

"That one phone call - or singing telegram, or... whatever - did end up on your blog. And if they put you in a bind like that, there's only one person you'd really think of as a target, far as I know."

Billy can't really argue with that logic, so he doesn't try. Instead, he just works on clearing space for the fold-out, and dismantling the couch cushions when Penny gets up to change clothes.

"I'm not saying don't hand him his ass on a platter," she says, a little muffled by the bathroom door. "God knows he's asked for it. But if you kill him, he can't possibly learn anything from the experience, and no one else would feel like they had to try to learn from it."

"You still think a learning experience might actually get through his thick skull? Seriously?"

"You never know until you try. I mean, I would have thought knocking him out was impossible, before tonight."

"Fair enough, I guess." He's still struggling with the fold-out, when she comes back; he'd forgotten how hard it was to pull out. Then again, the only person who usually crashes is Moist, and he just throws a sheet of plastic over the couch as is.

Of course, it's entirely possible the fold-out's hinges are getting a little rusty, despite Moist's best efforts to the contrary. He tries, Billy will grant him that, but it's kind of an uphill battle.

"Oh, here, let me help you with that." He doesn't have time to tell Penny she doesn't have to; she's already set her clothes down and grabbed the pull bar on the fold-out. No more than thirty seconds later, they've got the bed open.

"...Um." Billy eyes the hinges, as best he can under the mattress; they don't _look_ particularly nasty, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. "I'm not gonna call that any kind of empirical test, but that's... interesting, given how much trouble it was giving me."

"Yeah, I think 'interesting' is a good word for it." Penny eyes the fold-out herself for a moment, biting her lip. "Well, no point worrying about it at this time of night, anyway. Do you have any sheets for this thing?"

"I think so. Let me check."

He finds some sheets, and a spare blanket, and the two of them make short work of making the mattress livable. When they're done, Penny sits down on the mattress. "I... think I need to sleep. You probably do too."

"Yeah. That's - that would be good. I'll... see you in the morning?"

"See you then." Before Billy can go, Penny gets up and pulls him into a hug - mostly just a friend-hug, but not entirely. "Thanks, Billy. For - for everything."

"Of course." It's very, very hard to pull away without kissing her again, but he meant it about not being her rebound; among the other considerations, this is a friendship he doesn't want to wreck.

He doesn't fall asleep right away, after retreating to his bedroom. It's been an unexpectedly full night. But on the whole, he thinks it was full in a good way, and maybe now he's got a new partner in...

Well, in something or other. If she's interested, they can always figure that part out as they go along.


End file.
